It's More Than Just A Game: Africa at the Men’s World Cup and the Women’s AFCON

It's More Than Just A Game: Africa at the Men’s World Cup and the Women’s AFCON

From Into Africa by CSIS | Center for Strategic and International Studies

August 13, 2026 · 55 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the performance of African teams in the 2026 men's World Cup and the Women's AFCON, highlighting the need for investment in women's soccer.

The 2026 men's World Cup was a landmark for African football. Nine of ten African sides cleared the group stage, a continental record, yet only Morocco and Egypt reached the round of 16. In this Youth Roundtable, Catherine Nzuki is joined by Janine Anthony, an award-winning broadcaster who founded LadiesMarch, Africa's first all-women women's soccer network, and was the BBC World Service's first African female commentator to run lead commentaries at a major men's football tournament (the Africa Cup of Nations); and Chibuogwu Nnadiegbulam, a journalist with the International Sport Press Association and an editor with LadiesMarch.   Together they unpack what drove the group-stage surge, from expanded participation fees to the competitive edge of AFCON, and why so many campaigns unraveled after the 80th minute. They discuss game management and investment African football needs before 2030.  They also discuss WAFCON 2026, where early upsets have already reshaped expectations. Janine and Chibuogwu make the case for why the women's game, long under-resourced and under-covered, deserves the same investment as the men's, with four tickets to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil on…

People in this episode

Host: Catherine Nzuki

Guests: Janine Anthony, Chibuogwu Nnadiegbulam

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: LadiesMarch, BBC World Service, International Sport Press Association

Places: Brazil

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